GILC Alert Volume 7, Issue 3 25 June 2003 Welcome to the Global Internet Liberty Campaign Newsletter. Welcome to GILC Alert, the newsletter of the Global Internet Liberty Campaign. We are an international organization of groups working for cyber-liberties, who are determined to preserve civil liberties and human rights on the Internet. We hope you find this newsletter interesting, and we very much hope that you will avail yourselves of the action items in future issues. If you are a part of an organization that would be interested in joining GILC, please contact us at <gilcat_private>. If you are aware of threats to cyber-liberties that we may not know about, please contact the GILC members in your country, or contact GILC as a whole. Please feel free to redistribute this newsletter to appropriate forums. =============================================== Free expression [1] US high court upholds library Net censor law [2] China tortures Net dissident, sends 5 to prison [3] Prosecution of Vietnamese Net dissident provokes anger [4] New WSIS human rights caucus proposal [5] Tajikistani gov't censors news site [6] Iran expands Net blocking [7] Pakistani press website faces censorship [8] Hollywood sues other DVD copying equipment makers [9] Recording trade group Net copyright threat backfires [10] California high court hearing in DVD program case [11] Battle over Korean music sharing website continues [12] Police pressure student over harmless webblog entry [13] New study of German Internet censor plans Privacy [14] US politician, Hollywood push computer sabotage systems [15] Plan to make US spy laws permanent shelved [16] Report on TIA datamining scheme provokes alarm [17] Verizon hands over user data to RIAA [18] For sale: TiVo interactive television user info [19] UK gov't forces massive Net user data info disclosures [20] New study of Gator spyware [21] Microsoft error exposes 200 million Internet users [22] Japanese government passes personal info bills [23] EU data protection chief appointment criticized [24] Survey suggests tougher online privacy laws are needed [...] ===================================================== [2] China tortures Net dissident, sends 5 to prison ===================================================== The Mainland Chinese government has sentenced 5 web operators and writers to multi-year prison terms each for posting controversial content on the Internet. Four of these people, Xu Wei, Jin Haike, Yang Zili, and Zhang Honghai, were reportedly part of an Internet-based organization, the New Youth Society, which was dedicated to exploring democracy and social reform in China. They have since received jail sentences of 8 to 10 years each after several articles critical of the Chinese government appeared on their website. All 4 men complained of abusive treatment while in detention. According to Human Rights in China, Xu Wei protested in court about being brutally beaten and tortured with electrical shocks while in custody. He had to be carried out of the courtroom after being knocked unconscious from striking his head against the judge's desk, and subsequently began a hunger strike after his sentencing. Ann Cooper, director of the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ-a GILC member), stated that "[i]t is ridiculous that the Chinese Government considers the peaceful expression of one's views a subversive act." In addition, Huang Qi has now been sentenced to a 5-year prison term after visitors to Huang's site posted several allegedly "subversive" articles. He was the proprietor of a website designed to publicize information about missing people that attracted postings about alleged human rights abuses, corruption, and political issues. These sentences are being seen as just one of a multitude of moves that mainland Chinese authorities have made to stifle free speech online. A recently published study commissioned by Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF-a GILC member) indicates many online avenues for expression, notably Internet chatboards, are subject to heavy censorship. According to the report, messages with "banned words" such as "human rights" and "Taiwan independence" and "SARS" are "systematically blocked," while messages "that contain no banned words may lead to scrutiny from "volunteers" who "have the ability to suspend or ban forum visitors considered vulgar or politically incorrect." Offenders may later be arrested; thus the Chinese government has arrested 4 people for online discussion of SARS-related issues. Read Henry Hoenig, "Beijing goes high-tech to block Sars messages," New Zealand Herald, 16 June 2003 at http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storyprint.cfm?storyID=3507534 To learn more about Xu's hunger strike, see "China Internet dissident 'on hunger strike'," BBC News Online, 3 June 2003 at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/2961286.stm To read more about Huang's conviction, see "China Internet operator jailed," BBC News Online, 19 May 2003 at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3039041.stm For information about the sentencing of Xu and his compatriots, see "China jails web dissidents," BBC News Online, 29 May 2003 at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/2946526.stm See also John Gittings, "China jails Internet dissidents," The Guardian (UK), 30 May 2003 at http://www.guardian.co.uk/china/story/0,7369,966696,00.html The RSF report on Chinese censorship of Net chat boards is posted at http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=6793 See also "Information Control and Self-Censorship in the PRC and the Spread of SARS," U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China, 7 May 2003 at http://www.cecc.gov/pages/news/prcControl_SARS.pdf?PHPSESSID=e1cfd1d5f76d1c3 3734ec38ad0026e14 See also "China nabs 4 for spreading SARS rumours on the Internet," The Financial Gazette, 7 May 2003 at http://www.fingaz.co.zw/fingaz/2003/May/May7/3774.shtml ============================================================ [3] Prosecution of Vietnamese Net dissident provokes anger ============================================================ A Vietnamese doctor may soon spend more than a decade in prison over his Internet activities. Pham Hong Son allegedly wrote and translated several pro-democracy papers that were then posted on the Information Superhighway. Vietnamese authorities had initially questioned him on this subject and confiscated various personal items, including computer equipment and numerous documents. When the government denied his requests to reclaim his belongings, he posted an open letter on the Internet to protest their decision. Subsequently, Vietnamese officials convicted him of spying and using the Information Superhighway to distribute critiques of the government. He has since been sentenced to 13 years in jail, plus 3 years of house arrest after he leaves prison. His prosecution has drawn heavy protests from free speech advocates. Minky Worden from Human Rights Watch (HRW-a GILC member) warned: "Vietnam's crackdown on critics who use the Internet to peacefully disseminate their ideas or communicate with democracy advocates abroad appears to be escalating. ... These harsh prison sentences and vaguely worded charges of spying appear designed to intimidate not only government critics, but everyone in Vietnam who uses the Internet." For more information, visit the Digital Freedom Network (DFN-a GILC member) website under http://dfn.org/news/vietnam/son-sentenced.htm An HRW press release on this subject is posted under http://www.hrw.org/press/2003/06/vietnam061703.htm Read "Vietnam net dissident jailed," BBC News Online, 18 June 2003 at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/3000278.stm ========================================================= [4] New WSIS human rights caucus proposal ========================================================= Controversy continues to surround preparations for an upcoming World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). The WSIS, which is being organized by the International Telecommunications Union under the auspices of the United Nations, is supposedly meant to foster discussion regarding the socio-economic impact of new technologies. Its official goal is "to develop and foster a clear statement of political will and a concrete plan of action for achieving the goals of the Information Society, while fully reflecting all the different interests at stake." The first meeting will be held in Geneva, Switzerland from 10-12 December 2003 and the second in Tunis, Tunisia in November 2005, with various Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) sessions to take place beforehand. However, even as plans are being formed for the Summit, questions have arisen as to whether the WSIS will sufficiently address concerns of civil society, including issues of human rights. For example, the Association for Progressive Communications (APC-a GILC member) issued a detailed analysis of key WSIS documents (including the Draft Declaration of Principles and Draft Action Plan), and concluded that the papers failed to address "sufficiently" a number of important subjects. Among other things, APC took the WSIS committee to task for "lacking awareness on proposals around the 'information security agenda' that threaten to further harm already weakened human rights in areas such as privacy and data protection" and insufficiently acknowledging "the negative impact of Intellectual Property Rights on access to information and knowledge, and on technological innovation." Furthermore, the Board of the World Association of Newspapers and the Board of the World Editors Forum have expressed concern "that concepts that would regulate information and restrict the free flow of news are emerging in preparatory meetings for the WSIS, which is designed by UN agencies to produce policies for extending the benefits of information technologies and bridging the 'digital divide' between rich and poor societies." In order to remedy the situation, a number of organizations have banded together to form a WSIS Human Rights Caucus. The idea, which was proposed Imaginons un Reseau Internet Solidaire (IRIS-a GILC member), is to put "Human Rights on the agenda of the WSIS," develop "detailed inputs and contributions on how Human rights, as broadly defined, can be precisely translated within the specific framework of information and communication, in order to build a common vision of this society," and to raise the "awareness of NGOs [non-governmental organizations] and the public on the importance of addressing Human rights in the information society." Several GILC members have joined IRIS in this effort, including APC, Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility, Cyber-Rights & Cyber-Liberties UK, Digital Rights Denmark, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, VIBE! AT and the American Civil Liberties Union. For more regarding the WSIS Human Rights Caucus, click http://www.iris.sgdg.org/actions/smsi/hr-wsis/ APC and APC WNSP's critique of the WSIS Draft Declaration and Action Plan are available via http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=12235 A World Association of Newspapers press release regarding press freedom on the Internet and the WSIS is available under http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/50720 For further information from APC in Spanish (Espanol), at http://www.apc.org/espanol/news/index.shtml?x=12257 http://lac.derechos.apc.org/wsis/cdocs.shtml?x=12158 An archive of official WSIS documents is located at http://www.itu.int/wsis/documents/listing-all.asp?lang=en&c_event=pci|1&c_ty pe=all ===================================================== [5] Tajikistani gov't censors news site ===================================================== Authorities in Tajikistan are apparently blocking access to a news website that includes reports that criticize the government. Tajikistantimes.ru was launched this past March by opposition journalist Dododjoin Atovulloev from outside of the country. According to its creator, the site is the only one "that dares to criticise the president, government and parliament and say the things the local press does not report." The site includes quotes from various opposition party leaders as well as political affairs experts regarding a Tajik constitutional reform referendum that is scheduled for later this month. Reports now indicate that the country's security ministry is denying access to the site. Atovulloev, who has now received numerous death threats, explained that the government was blocking his site because "they view any form of dissidence as a crime." Several free press groups have lobbied in support of the embattled news website. Robert Ménard, the Secretary-General of Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF-a GILC member) wrote a letter to Tajik President Imamali Rahmanov, urging him "to do everything possible to ensure that [Tajikistantimes.ru] is accessible again and that the independent media can develop without obstruction." An RSF press release on this subject is available at http://www.rsf.org/print.php3?id_article=7011 ===================================================== [6] Iran expands Net blocking ===================================================== The Iranian government has ordered the blocking of 15 000 sites for displaying allegedly offensive content. In addition to banning about 80 newspapers and magazines, Iran's government has extended its reach to censoring publications online. Toward that end, Iranian authorities have created a list of "immoral" and "political" sites that "rudely make fun of religious and political figures in the country." This list has been sent to Internet service providers (ISPs) for blocking purposes; reports indicate that ISPs could face court action if they do not comply. In addition to the website blacklist, Iranian authorities have arrested Sina Motallebi, an online journalist and the proprietor of www.rooznegar.com, in connection with various interviews he had posted on his website, as well as for defending another journalist who ran a cartoon in a newspaper that offended the government. The arrest of Motallebi has led to condemnation from various free speech groups, including Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF-a GILC member). In addition, an online petition drive for his release has drawn thousands of signatures. Read "Iran steps up net censorship," BBC News Online, 12 May 2003 at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3019695.stm For further information in Italian, see "Iran, censura su 15mila siti Internet," RAINet News, 13 May 2003 at http://rai.it/RAInet/news/RNw/pub/articolo/raiRNewsArticolo/0,7605,52749%5Eh omePageStrilli%5E41%5E,00.html See also "Bloggers unite to fight," BBC News Online, 2 May 2003 at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/2992401.stm ===================================================== [7] Pakistani press website faces censorship ===================================================== Pakistani authorities have blocked the country's Internet users from visiting a prominent news website. According to the publication's editor, Shaheen Sehbai, the South Asia Tribune was censored because it had "done a number of stories that exposed government policies." Among other things, the Tribune had criticized Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf, and had taken the ruling regime to task for multiple human rights violations. Efforts by Pakistani government agents to block the website were apparently made easier because one entity, the Pakistan Internet Exchange, is the predominant Internet provider in the country, and can thereby act as gatekeeper to prevent regular Pakistani citizens from reaching various parts of cyberspace. Sehbai also mentioned that, in addition to harassing his family members, the government has published an advertisement in Pakistani newspapers asking people not to visit the website and has warned Pakistani media not to reprint stories published by the Tribune. Not surprisingly, many members of the international community have denounced the Pakistani government's actions. Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF-a GILC member) issued a statement labeling the blocking of the Tribune "a serious violation of press freedom and of the right of Pakistanis to diverse information and news." In the meantime, the website has been moved to a proxy server in the hopes of circumventing Pakistani government censors. The relocated Tribune website can be viewed at http://anon.free.anonymizer.com/http://www.satribune.com/index.htm An RSF press release on this subject is posted at http://www.rsf.fr/article.php3?id_article=7051 See Editor's Note, "SA Tribune Blockade Continues," South Asia Tribune, 8-14 June 2003 at http://www.satribune.com/archives/jun08_14_03/index.htm For further background information, click http://www.oneworld.org/ppf [...] ============================================================= [11] Battle over Korean music sharing website continues ============================================================= A Korean music file-sharing service has won the latest round in a long-running series of court battles. Soribada, meaning "sea of sound," is Korea's leading peer-to-peer Internet site, which allows users to swap MP3 music files. Last year, the service had lost in civil court to the Recording Industry Association of Korea (RIAK), which convinced a court to order Soribada to prohibit users from uploading and downloading MP3 files produced by RIAK members. In addition, Soribada's proprietors, Yang Jung-hwan and Yang Il-hwan, were arrested in 2001 and charged with aiding and condoning copyright violations. If convicted, they each could have faced 5 years in prison. Several weeks ago, a District Court in the nation's capital, Seoul, dismissed these criminal charges against the Yang brothers, holding that the government had failed to meet the burden of proof. "When indicting a person on a charge of abetting, there must be a detailed description of the crimes of the principal offenders, which is a precondition for any indictment. But prosecutors failed to give clear examples and specified facts on how and when Yang brothers helped millions of users to infringe upon copyrights of music producers in this case, simply listing the Internet identifications of users of the website as principal offenders." The decision could have serious free speech implications; Cho Won-hee, who represented the Yangs in this case, noted that it "is a global trend that the court cannot call the service operator to account for violation of intellectual property rights by service users when a website service operator becomes unable to control copyright infringements by service users." However, Prosecutors have since said that they will appeal the ruling. See Kim Sung-jin, "Legal Battle on Online Music File Swapping Enters New Phase," The Korea Times, 20 May 2003 at http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/tech/200305/kt2003052017052311790.htm ========================================================================== [12] Police pressure student over harmless webblog entry ========================================================================== A teenager in the United States recently found herself under heavy police scrutiny over an innocent note she put in her online journal. Erin Carter had written in her webblog about rumors that her high school's computer network had been hacked. Before the network problems were determined to be the result of a glitch and not hacking, two local Chapel Hill police officers, wearing shirts with the insignia of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) questioned her about her webblog entry. One of the police officers presented her with an unauthorized FBI business card identifying him as a "task force agent" of an FBI "Cyber Crime Task Force," leading her to erroneously believe that they were affiliated with the FBI. After an internal investigation by the Chapel Hill Police Department, one of the officers resigned - right before being presented with a termination notice - and the other was suspended. The Department also instituted a new dress code policy to ensure that no one else is misled into believing that officers represent another law enforcement entity. See Jon Elliston, "Chapel Hill cop resigns, another is suspended, after Indy expose," Durham Independent Online, 11 June 2003 at http://www.indyweek.com/durham/2003-06-11/triangles.html ===================================================== [13] New study of German Internet censor plans ===================================================== A new report indicates that a local German government's web content blocking orders are technically "next to impossible" to implement. The district government of Dusseldorf had previously ordered Internet service providers (ISPs) to prevent users from reaching selected foreign websites. While Dusseldorf officials tried to justify these efforts as a way to fight right-wing extremists, many members of the Internet community objected, saying that the order would, among other things not only prevent access to neo-Nazi sites, but would also censor political criticism, entertainment files, and sexual content. These fears were largely borne out in the report, which analyzing the engineering issues involved in the content blocking mandates of the Dusseldorf government, including different techniques used to deploy blocking at the provider level. The document determines that German ISPs are confused about which sites to block, create misconfiguations to either over- or under-block sites mandated by the orders, and that, at best, only 55% of ISPs are complying with the orders. See Maximillian Dornseif, "Government mandated blocking of foreign Web content," reprint of the "Lecture Notes in Informatics" article available at http://md.hudora.de/publications/200306-gi-blocking/200306-gi-blocking.pdf [...] ================================================================= [19] UK government forces massive Net user data info disclosures ================================================================= Reports indicate that British government officials are routinely demanding huge quantities of personal online and telephone data, even as they seek wider powers for Internet snooping. Under the controversial Regulatory of Investigatory Powers Act, the British Home Office has been making approximately a million yearly requests for access to data held by net and telephone companies. According to the Foundation for Information Policy Research (FIPR-a GILC member), the list of government agencies making these demands is not limited to the Metropolitan Police (127 000 requests), but also includes such bureaus as the Radio Communications Agency (400 requests), the Financial Services Authority (100 requests). These figures were released at a recent public debate where the government proposed to increase its ability to obtain personal communication data. The British government has already running into controversy with net and telephone companies over the extent of time companies should be forced to retain such data, with suggestions ranging from six months to seven years. Privacy advocates have expressed strong concern over the extent of government data mining, who have pointed out that large amounts of communications information, including phone numbers dialed, email addresses contacted, websites visited and so on are all available with scant judicial oversight. "The government can't just say we have the intent to prevent crime so therefore we can do more or less what we like," says Simon Davies, the head of lobby group, Privacy International (a GILC member). Read "Extent of UK snooping revealed," BBC News Online, 16 May 2003 at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3030851.stm See also Graeme Wearden, "Whistle blown over extent of UK data seizures," ZDNet UK, 14 May 2003 at http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2134686,00.html [...] =================================================================== [22] Japanese government passes personal info bills =================================================================== The Japanese parliament has finally passed highly controversial legislation aimed at guarding personal information. The proposed legislation was first introduced in 2001 but subsequently encountered several delays and revisions after the media and public protested that freedom of expression would be curtailed. Under these rules, Japanese citizens can ask firms to reveal what personal information is being kept about them, request companies to stop using personal information about them, or correct their files. Japanese government regulators are tasked with prosecuting offenders of the new laws. The legislation also calls for an information protection council to deal with privacy grievances. To assuage fears concerning freedom of speech, the legislation will not apply to the media or publishing bodies and research institutions. The bills define media institutions as those organizations which deliver objective facts to numerous, unspecified people. Policymakers predict intense debate in the weeks following the Diet session. Many worry that the ambiguity and fuzzy guidelines outlined in the legislation will do little to protect privacy, especially with regard to government collection and dissemination of personal data. See "Japan passes information protection bills," Mainichi Shimbun, 23 May 2003, available at http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/news/archive/200305/23/20030523p2a00m0dm020000c.ht ml Read "Hit and miss: A close look at what the controversial privacy-protection bills would mean for consumers reveals numerous flaws," Asahi Shimbun, 22 May 2003 at http://www.asahi.com/english/politics/K2003052200343.html =================================================================== [23] EU data protection chief appointment criticized =================================================================== Privacy advocates have criticized a European Parliament (EP) committee recommendation of an unknown Spanish magistrate for the influential post of European Data Protection chief. In a secret ballot of the Committee on Citizen's Freedoms and Rights, Justice and Home Affairs of the EP, Joaquin Bayo Delgado was chosen as primary candidate for the post of "Data Protection Supervisor" for Europe, despite being completely unknown to any privacy or data protection advocate in Europe. The vote came more than three months of intensive lobbying by Bayo, the Spanish government and Spanish EP members (MEP), as well as heavy political arm-twisting between major EP parties, many of whom reportedly were opposed to having a candidate who might have strong pro-privacy stances. Not surprisingly, privacy experts are very upset over the Committee's recommendation of Bayo. Simon Davies from Privacy International (PI-a GILC member) that his organization simply "cannot understand how a candidate with no experience or publicly stated interest in Data Protection can be nominated for this post over many eminently qualified candidates. To the best of our knowledge Mr Bayo Delgado is unknown to any privacy or data protection advocate in Europe, nor has he written or spoken about the subject it in any public presentation." An open letter from Privacy International regarding Bayo's nomination is posted at http://www.privacyinternational.org/intl_orgs/eu/delgado-letter-503.html To read a PI press release on this subject, click http://www.privacyinternational.org/intl_orgs/eu/delgado-release-503.html [...] ========================================================= ABOUT THE GILC NEWS ALERT: ========================================================= The GILC News Alert is the newsletter of the Global Internet Liberty Campaign, an international coalition of organizations working to protect and enhance online civil liberties and human rights. Organizations are invited to join GILC by contacting us at gilcat_private To alert members about threats to cyber liberties, please contact members from your country or send a message to the general GILC address. To submit information about upcoming events, new activist tools and news stories, contact: Christopher Chiu GILC Coordinator American Civil Liberties Union 125 Broad Street, 17th Floor New York, New York 10004 USA Or email: cchiuat_private More information about GILC members and news is available at http://www.gilc.org You may re-print or redistribute the GILC NEWS ALERT freely. This edition of the GILC Alert will be found on the World Wide Web under http://www.gilc.org/alert/alert74.html To subscribe to the Alert, or to change your subscription options (including unsubscribing), please visit http://www.2rad.net/mailman/listinfo/gilc-announce ======================================================== PUBLICATION OF THIS NEWSLETTER IS MADE POSSIBLE BY A GRANT FROM THE OPEN SOCIETY INSTITUTE (OSI) ======================================================== ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- To subscribe to Politech: http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ Declan McCullagh's photographs are at http://www.mccullagh.org/ Like Politech? 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